


Here Be Dragons

by andamiro (arysthaeniru)



Series: Here Be Dragons [1]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Hyotei - Freeform, M/M, Rikkaidai - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-05
Updated: 2014-01-05
Packaged: 2018-01-07 14:38:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1121031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arysthaeniru/pseuds/andamiro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Akutagawa Jirou's been assigned to stop a dragon. That's nothing new, he is a Dragon Tamer. The problem is, so has Rikkai's Dragon Hunter, Marui Bunta. Written for tenipuri_xpair exchange.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here Be Dragons

“You know, if you fall asleep there, you’ll die.”

Jirou started slightly from where he was nodding off in the grass. He adjusted his blue tabard and looked up quizzically. “Ehh? Die? But it’s just grass.” Jirou suddenly stood and brushed himself down. “It’s not poisonous grass, is it?”

The stranger who’d woken him up looked amused. He had pink hair that came to his chin and popped out at odd angles. He wore a large yellow cape slung over his shoulder carelessly and a large shoulder pad in metal, painted with black stars and a boomerang symbol. He had a pack slung around his chest and seemed to be chewing relentlessly on some acacia gum. He was silhouetted by the bright sunlight, but his smirk was plain to see. “The grass won’t kill you. But the dragons that feed here will. They can’t tell the difference between humans and animals when they feed, you know.”

Jirou’s eyes widened and he grabbed his pack immediately. Lord Atobe would not be pleased if he got eaten by the dragons he was supposed to be able to tame. “It didn’t say that this was a dragon feeding area though….” he murmured as he scanned the area around him. Had he just missed it in his urgency to nap?

But no, as he looked all over the field, there wasn’t a single sign anywhere that indicated this was a feeding area. Back home in Hyotei, it had signs everywhere, in large script, along with pictures and little warning stones, surrounding the dragon feeding fields. He’d always thought that it was overkill on the behalf of the villagers, especially since most of the dragons just preferred to leave humans alone, but it was useful to figure out where you were.

“But it _is_ Rikkai-owned land. That automatically means that it’s a dragon feeding area.” said the stranger, cocking an eyebrow at Jirou as he started walking away from the field. “Are you new here?”

“Is it that obvious?” asked Jirou, scratching his hair nervously as he followed the stranger. No wonder Lord Atobe had refused to send Jirou on the stealth mission with Ohtori and Sir Oshitari. Still, Jirou _could_ have been useful. 

“Well, you did just fall asleep on Rikkai-owned land. And you aren’t wearing any yellow.” The stranger cocked his hip and his eyebrow rose. “Where are you from, anyway?”

“Hyotei. My name’s Akutagawa Jirou, Lord Atobe’s Dragon Tamer at your service!” Jirou bowed slightly before grinning. “What about you?”

The stranger smiled. “Marui Bunta. Rikkaidai’s genius Dragon Hunter, at your service.” He winked slightly and adjusted his bag. “Hyotei’s far away though. What brings you here?”

Jirou yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Lord Atobe sent me to deliver something to Lord Yukimura. But I was tired, so I wanted to nap.”

Marui’s eyes crinkled and he stared at Jirou. “Why would Atobe send a Dragon Tamer on a messenger mission?” He looked more than slightly bemused.

Jirou paused and placed a finger to his cheek. “Oh yeah! Atobe said that Lord Sanada wanted my services as well! Some dragon that’s causing havoc in his towns. I know where Lord Yukimura lives, because it’s really obvious.” Jirou said, pointing at the castle in the distance, “But I have no idea where Lord Sanada is.”

Marui blinked slightly, before laughing. “So you’re the competition that Yagyuu told me to watch out for when taking on Sanada’s assignment. You aren’t much, are you?”

Jirou frowned and crossed his arms over his tabard with a scowl. “That’s not very nice.”

Marui laughed. “Kid, if you’re in the dragon taming business, the last thing you can be is nice. The dragon’s hardly going to stand down by my asking nicely and saying please.”

“Dragons are people too.” Jirou scowled at the pink-haired man, shouldering his pack. “They have families and homes and worries, just like us. If you actually were a genius, you’d know that, and you’d know that the best way to pacify a rampaging dragon is to talk to them nicely.”

Marui stared at Jirou for a long, hard moment before softening a little and smiling. “I’m sorry; I’m being rude again, aren’t I? Jackal always said that I had this tendency.”

“Just a little.” conceded Jirou, letting the frown drop from his face.

“Tell you what, how about I show you to Sanada and Yukimura’s places?” said Marui, grinning. “It’s obvious that you don’t really know where you’re going, considering you’re in Duke Yagyuu’s county, which is on the other side from the capital of Rikkai.”

“Ehhh?!” Jirou exclaimed. “But that castle in the distance is Yukimura’s, right?”

Marui glanced at it and snorted lightly. “No, that’s the border to Shitenhouji’s capital. Yukimura’s not nearly that pompous. Only Shiraishi would come up with something like that for a home.”

“You mean I’ve been going in the wrong direction for the last two days!” yelled Jirou, feeling astonished.

“Looks like it, kiddo. Hyotei’s borders are really close to Yukimura’s castle. You should have only needed a day’s journey to get there.” said Marui, chuckling through his gum.

Jirou slumped and sighed. “I’m too tired.”

Marui covered his mouth and patted Jirou’s back with his other one. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that you don’t get lost.”

“Why?” asked Jirou, “Aren’t I competition?”

Marui shrugged. “Guess you’re interesting. And I’ve never seen someone actually talk to dragons.”

Jirou blinked. “You don’t talk to dragons? But how do you tame them, then?”

Marui patted his pack. “Music. And food. It’s multipurpose, because they work for humans too, as long as my genius uses it in the right way, of course.” 

Jirou giggled; the man was so arrogant, almost matching Lord Atobe’s prowess. Still, he seemed nice enough, despite his apparent dislike for being so. Marui joined in as well. “Come on, we’d better start walking.” said Marui, “It’s another three days to Yukimura’s house.”

(X)

Bunta hummed easily as they walked down the country road. His companion was very quiet, which was weird, since he looked like the sort that would just chatter and chatter. Still, Bunta was used to silence, after travelling with Jackal for the best part of three years, and was usually happy to fill it up with his own voice.

“So, did you hear about the wyvern outbreak yesterday? Somebody apparently saw a tonne of wyverns flying around at Rokkaku and that tiny island that belongs to Lord Mizuki.” said Bunta, stretching out his arms and rolling his shoulders, especially the one with the large shoulder pad.

Akutagawa didn’t answer, only making a weird noise. “That doesn’t bother you, ehh?” asked Bunta, shutting his eyes and letting the sun fall upon his face and warm it. “You’re pretty brave. But not as brave as me.”

There was no sound from Akutagawa, which Bunta took as assent to explain. “Well, the other day, I was walking in and around the woods close to Lord Yanagi’s lands and I came across eight chimaeras! They were fighting about what they wanted to hunt! What did I do?”

Akutagawa made another weird noise and Bunta grinned. “What did I do? A lesser human would have run away from the danger, but not I! I stood there and I told them that sheep were particularly tasty in the area and that they should try some of my amazing cakes! And the cakes were laced with wine, so all of the chimaeras fell asleep and I was able to trap and sell them for some pretty good money! Genius, isn’t it?”

There was no response from Akutagawa. Huh? “Were you even listening to me, Akutagawa?” demanded Bunta, crossing his arms over his chest. Then there was a loud snore. Bunta whirled around and looked at his companion.

Akutagawa’s eyes were shut! He was sleepwalking! Unbelievable! Bunta shook Akutagawa awake, who started away and flailed his limbs slightly. He tripped over his feet and ended up sprawled out on the road. Bunta stared at him, a look of abject confusion upon his face. “Were you just walking in your sleep?”

Akutagawa nodded, looking slightly cranky. “Yeah, I was. It’s not like you need to think to walk. And I was having a nice nap too!”

Bunta gave him a look before shaking his head, indulgently. Akutagawa was weird. “Do you just sleep everywhere?”

Akutagawa pouted. “I don’t sleep when I have to chat with dragons. But, sleep is nice. Don’t you like sleep?”

Bunta felt slightly bemused. “Sure I do. But you could fall over and trip if you walk and sleep.”

Akutagawa gave him a point-blank stare. “That’s what you’re here for.” He then yawned again and shut his eyes again. His feet started walking onwards, as he continued to make weird noises.

Speechless, Bunta just stared at his companion as he continued to walk by. Absolutely unbelievable. The nerve of him! The mighty genius of Marui Bunta reduced to making sure that a narcoleptic youth didn’t fall over himself while sleepwalking? Unthinkable! What arrogance! Bunta would let the youth fall just for that presumption!

But, to Bunta’s surprise, as the youth got close to falling into a pothole in the road, he steered the boy away from the hole anyway. Ttch. Stupid sentimentality and sense of honour crap that Lord Sanada liked to rant about. Bunta sniffed slightly and chewed on his acacia gum petulantly. It was going to be a long journey.

(X)

“It’s cold.” complained Jirou, as he drew his cape tightly around him.

“It’s Rikkai. Half of the country snows and the other half hails.” deadpanned Marui, as he attempted to light a fire with his shaking fingers. Despite them being covered by large heavy gloves, Marui looked like his fingers were about to fall off. “We’re lucky that it’s only cold and the heavens haven’t decided to empty themselves upon us.”

“Do you need a hand with that?” asked Jirou, as he blew on his own hands and reached forward.

“No, I’ve got it.” said Marui, grinning as he pulled up the collar of his shirt to cover his neck a bit more. “Watch this.”

He pulled out a small flute from his bag. He pressed it to his mouth and a few hesitant notes came out from the end, before he spat out his acacia gum. Suddenly, a haunting melody came out of the flute.

Jirou closed his eyes as the music wove around the clearing. He could feel the tantalizing warm summers spent sleeping out in the fields and the running around with Ryo and Gakuto at Midsummer’s bonfires. He could almost feel the heat and the warmth and with a start, Jirou realized that he could. Despite Marui still playing, with his eyes shut and swaying as he too was lost in the music; the fire was blazing.

Jirou blinked. Was that really the fire that had stubbornly refused to catch? Jirou placed his fingers close to his fire and drew them back as the flame came dangerously close to burning him. Definitely real. Had…had Marui done that?

“Amazing!” exclaimed Jirou as Marui pulled the flute away from his mouth. “That was simply amazing, Marui!”

Marui grinned and opened his bag to pull out some meat. “Genius, wasn’t it? I told you that music and food was all I needed.” He tore it in half and handed Jirou a piece.

“Thanks Marui! You’re so cool!” said Jirou. Jirou reached into his bag and pulled out two apples, throwing one at Marui. Marui leaned backwards and caught it with his teeth. Jirou laughed and started eating.

Woah. Marui was _cool_! What he’d give to be able to play a musical instrument and make that happen! Lord Atobe would be so pleased! And of course, he’d set the tips of Ryo’s hair on fire when he wasn’t paying attention to Jirou and making moon-eyes at Ohtori. And maybe he’d get Oshitari to act like he wasn’t some hoity-toity prick!

…maybe that was too much to ask for, but Marui was able to do miracles with that flute! Like making wet wood catch on fire! “Teach me, won’t you?” begged Jirou, as they finished eating. “It’s so amazing and cool and you’re so awesome and I want to be just like you!”

Marui looked sort of creeped out and slightly bemused. “It’s not something you can just learn. Other people can play the same tune that I do but nothing will happen.” He said, looking slightly sorry that he couldn’t teach Jirou. “Sorry kiddo.”

Jirou paused. Well, that was a disappointment. “But, you don’t know till you try, right? Let me play, please, please, please, please!” He gripped Marui’s cloak and Marui pulled it out of his hands.

“You’re not ready. Do you even know how to play a musical instrument?” asked Marui, looking irritated.

“Well…noooo, but you can always learn, right? It can’t be _that_ hard!” Jirou leant forward and batted his eyelashes at Marui, the look that always made Lord Atobe turn into Kei, his childhood friend, and always meant that Jirou got his way.

Marui looked reluctant. “I can’t, Akutagawa. You can’t just learn to play an instrument that quickly. It doesn’t matter how eager to learn you are, kiddo.” He did however, look genuinely sorry.

Jirou pouted. “You’re mean.”

“And you’re irritating. But I still put up with you.” retorted Marui, taking a bite from his apple.

Jirou frowned and curled up in his cloak. He turned away from the fire and refused to talk to Marui for the rest of the night.

(X)

Bunta sighed as he tried again to talk to Akutagawa on their long journey through Lord Sanada’s lands. “Look, I said I’m sorry already! But I really can’t teach you how to play the flute in two days.”

Akutagawa merely threw him a betrayed looked and turned away huffily. Bunta groaned and turned away with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair and scowled at his hands as he brought them down again.

He’d never been so adamant about getting someone’s approval before. He’d been perfectly happy about pissing off Niou, Kirihara and Lord Sanada, but yet there was something about this kid. Something about the kid made Bunta want to keep Akutagawa happy.

Bunta exhaled loudly and pulled his cloak around him tighter, as a swift zephyr whipped past them. Bunta looked up to the sky. It would rain soon. Probably tonight. They’d have to reach Lord Sanada’s castle or, if they really weren’t able, Kirihara would probably give them shelter for the night. Probably.

“Akutagawa,” Bunta said, “We’re going to have to walk faster. It’ll probably rain tonight and I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly want to sleep on soaking wet ground and wake up tomorrow as if I went for a swim, fully clothed.”

Akutagawa nodded firmly, his mouth set into a hard line. It didn’t suit him.

Bunta sighed and gripped Akutagawa’s shoulders. The boy started slightly and looked up at Bunta with wide, confused eyes. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I don’t know how many times you want me to say that. I don’t know what I’ve done to make you so angry at me, but it’s creepy and I’ve only known you for a day and I can figure out that this isn’t normal. Can we go back to being friendly, please?” Bunta was aware that he was babbling now, but the silence was getting to him.

The boy looked at him for a little, then smiled. “For your information, I wasn’t angry at you for not teaching me the flute. I was angry because you called me irritating and said that you were only putting up with me.”

Bunta blinked. An offhand comment had resulted in this much antagonism? “You don’t have a very thick skin, do you?” he asked, ruffling Akutagawa’s hair. “In any case, I apologize. Most of the Dragon Hunters I work with have a habit of insulting each other all the time so I’m used to calling people names without really meaning it.”

Akutagawa nodded, looking curious. “That’s so weird. In Hyotei, you only ever say what you mean, otherwise you stay quiet. The only person who gets away with mock insults is Oshitari and that’s because no one can tell if he’s lying or not. Not even Kei—Lord Atobe.”

Bunta snorted. Kei? Akutagawa _had_ said that he was Atobe’s Dragon tamer and not Hyotei’s, but Bunta hadn’t taken note of it until now. How close was Akutagawa to the Ice King anyway? “That’s such a contrast to Rikkai. Lying is encouraged. Lord Yukimura usually knows when you’re lying and laughs at you. Lord Yanagi knows and kind of disapproves, but if you can put one past him, he’ll respect you forever. Well, Lord Sanada hates it but, he’s got a stick in the ass, so….”

Akutagawa grinned and laughed. It was infectious and Bunta started laughing too. “K—Lord Atobe would laugh if someone lied to him and he knew about it. But then that person would probably get thrown in the dungeons too. Like Taki. Taki tried to betray us to some weird kingdom from faraway, Nagoya I think, but Ryo and Gakuto did this whole elaborate plot thing and it was amazing and Taki got thrown in jail. Atobe wanted to do worse, but Kabaji was all about keeping him as a hostage and basically it was awesome!”

Bunta blinked. Did he ever stop to breathe? “Sounds interesting. Is life always like that in Hyotei? Are your dragon hunters that restless?” asked Bunta, lifting an eyebrow in curiosity.

“That’s because our dragon tamers are awesome.” said Akutagawa, grinning.

“Really now? Tell me about them.” Bunta had two motivations for this. One, he wanted to hear Akutagawa talk, instead of having the fill the silence himself and two, Yanagi would always be pleased about more information about other countries.

“Well, mostly everyone are paired up, because it’s kinda dangerous to go hunting alone. Gakuto and Ryo are one pair and they’re awesome!” explained Akutagawa.

“I’ve heard of them. Shishido and Mukahi, right!” said Bunta, as he suddenly remembered with a start. He’d heard about their overwhelming defeat to Seigaku’s Kikumaru and Oishi at the annual tourney, but there was no need to mention that to Akutagawa.

“Yep! Ryo’s reallllllly fast and Gakuto’s super acrobatic and outgoing. He usually distracts the dragons then Ryo puts them to sleep because he’s fast and can get to a dragon’s heart before they notice and put the dragons to sleep.” explained Akutagawa, complete with hand gestures. “Then there’s Sir Oshitari and Ohtori. They’re like the complete opposite of Ryo and Gakuto because Ryo and Gakuto are tiny and hyperactive and really, really loud. But then Ohtori and Oshitari are really tall and really quiet!” said Jirou, extending his hands to indicate their height.

Bunta laughed and raised an eyebrow at Akutagawa’s antics. “I’ve heard of Oshitari. He’s the man with the silver tongue, right?”

“Mmhmm!” nodded Akutagawa. It looked like his head was a little bobblehead and Bunta felt the urge to ruffle his hair. He really was quite funny. “They’re good because they usually try to prevent dragon attacks from happening. They’re the diplomats and scouts. They’re really cool!”

Bunta stopped. Stop the attacks from happening in the first place? The only other place he’d seen try that was that beach area, Rokkaku, run by that kid. And sure, it was a good idea, but what would the Dragon Hunters do if the dragons didn’t attack? “I’ve heard that Hyotei’s got a larger group of Dragon Hunters than most countries.”

“Dragon Tamers.” corrected Akutagawa, with a rueful grin. “We don’t kill dragons. Why should we, when you can ask them to leave or take them back to where they live? Lord Atobe may be ruthless when it comes to people, but he won’t kill dragons when he doesn’t have to.”

Bunta frowned. “Why not? They’re just mindless beasts out to cause trouble! Why not kill them when they kill us and hurt us?”

Akutagawa frowned. “That’s wrong.” he challenged, his eyes blazing. “Dragons are people too. They live and love and have rules and honour. A language of their own and a love of fire. They’re like humans! Why would you kill them?”

Bunta frowned at Akutagawa and crossed his arms over his chest. “They do nothing but kill. How have dragons helped us? What have they done for us? Nothing, except set fires and ruin crops and kill innocents.”

Akutagawa pouted. “That’s not true. They’re very clever. If you talked to them more, you’d understand. And why do they need to do something for us? Every individual person in Rikkai hasn’t done something for you, yet you still protect them! Why don’t the dragons deserve that protection?”

Bunta almost retorted that dragons didn’t share languages or share anything really, but didn’t. He’d already annoyed the boy enough. And he liked talking with Akutagawa. “Let’s agree to disagree.” he said, firmly. “Hyotei’s got a tonne more dragon tamers in comparison to Rikkai, right?” he said, letting the main point they’d been arguing slip.

“Yeah, that’s true, isn’t it? I never really stopped to think about that much. There are a couple of people who don’t have partners, like me and Sir Hiyoshi. But that’s because no one can put up with Hiyoshi’s attitude and people don’t like the fact that I sleep all the time.” said Akutagawa, letting the topic of actual dragons drop easily.

Bunta frowned. That was sad, that people were put off by something as simple as sleeping too much. After all, Jackal had put up with much worse from him.“Lord Atobe killed dragons in his time, though. Lord Sanada and he faced off at the tourney and some of the moves that Atobe used were life-threatening.” said Bunta, as he frowned.

“Sure, but Lord Atobe had a partner when he tamed dragons. Lord Kabaji usually stopped him from killing the dragons and just moved them or scolded them.” explained Akutagawa. Akutagawa then grinned. “He still does that now, actually. Lord Atobe deals with foreign affairs and money while Lord Kabaji deals with internal affairs and stuff and Lord Kabaji’s usually the one telling people to not kill each other or to do punishment and things. He’s sooo cool, and then he used to creep out the dragons by imitating their movements. It was spectacular!”

Bunta grinned. Lord Yanagi would be very, very pleased to hear that information. Kabaji was in charge of internal affairs? It was very, very good data.

Akutagawa then turned to him. “But that’s the important people in Hyotei. There are the others, like 200 of them waiting for one of us to die so they can take our place, but they’re useless and boring and I feel like falling asleep when I talk to them. What’s Rikkai like?”

Marui blinked as he quickly processed the information. Rikkaidai? Well, he’d have to be careful to not say more than what Atobe would already know. “Rikkai? Rikkai’s force is much smaller, for one. We have less land and are less likely to be attacked by dragons since we have a coast pretty close by. And everyone’s got a partner. You don’t walk around without a partner, it’s too dangerous and it’s a rule.”

Akutagawa looked like he wanted to ask something, the obvious thing wrong with what he’d just said, but Bunta plowed on. “You might have heard of our most famous duo, Niou and Yagyuu?”

Akutagawa looked bored. “Yeah, the Trickster and the Gentleman. Who hasn’t heard of them? But –“

“What’s special about them,” said Bunta, cutting over Akutagawa’s question, “Is Niou. Most Dragon Hunters have royal blood or royal heritage from somewhere, but Niou’s all peasant. But he and Yagyuu were friends since they were little kids and they did everything together. Including learning, fighting, and even learning how to rule. Nobody approved, but neither Yagyuu or Niou have been much of one for listening to others.”

Bunta stopped to take breath. Akutagawa had fallen silent, much to his happiness. He wasn’t going to ask the question. “Well, best friends automatically spend all of their time together, but Niou and Yagyuu took it one step further. When Yagyuu’s father died, leaving Yagyuu to be Duke of the land, they had to separate for a while. In retaliation, they started becoming each other.”

At Akutagawa’s look, Bunta held his hands up. “Hey, I’m not lying. It’s true. When Yagyuu was bored of ruling and Niou wanted to cause some mischief in the manor house, they just switched places and duties, sometimes for days on end. Nobody could tell the difference, because they were perfect in their deception. Thing is, Yagyuu had to stop switching after a while, especially after Lord Yanagi got delegated to dealing with all of the Foreign Affairs, but Niou never really could stop imitating others. Niou started imitating everybody and everything. He became a tree in front of my very eyes and to this day, I can’t tell how.”

Akutagawa looked skeptical. “You’re completely lying.”

Bunta frowned. “You have that little trust in me? I’m not lying, promise. It’s why he’s known as the trickster.”

“Dragon dung.” said Akutagawa, but there was a tentative smile on his face that indicated that he was unsure about it. Bunta winked at him and grinned.

“But they aren’t even the best. The best, now that prize goes to Akaya and Yuuta. Well, I dunno if Yuuta counts.” said Bunta, shrugging.

“Yuuta….name sounds familiar.” muttered Akutagawa then he brightened up. “It’s not Fuji Yuuta, is it? I think I played him at the tourney two years back!”

Marui clicked his fingers. “So that’s who he was so annoyed about! You beat him in five minutes flat or something.”

“Something like that.” said Akutagawa, shrugging, nonchalantly. “I was so tired because it was really noisy the night before, so I was playing fast so I could go and sleep.”

Bunta grinned. “You’re really something, kiddo.”

“But he isn’t from Rikkai.” said Akutagawa, pulling a face. “Didn’t he play as Lord Mizuki’s champion? From that island with the weird name?”

“Yep, but he and Kirihara are in love. He came to Rikkai to be with Kirihara and I think he likes it better here. Less expectations about style or glamour. Just get the job done,” said Bunta shrugging. “I wouldn’t know, I don’t chat with him much. But Akaya’s one heck of a hunter. He’s a tiny kid, and young too, only sixteen summers old, but I saw him lift up an entire dragon once and literally punch through its skin when he went into devil mode.”

“Devil mode?” asked Akutagawa, frowning, “What’s that?”

Bunta hesitated and pulled a face. “Kirihara’s special like me. Except, he doesn’t channel that power through music. Whenever he gets angry, his skin turns red and his hair white and he’s stronger and faster than any of the other Dragon Hunters or even the dragons. They die and he wins. Simple. Efficient. And then Yuuta’s equally aggressive. He’s fast and he’s a close-range fighter, which means that when they both attack, they decimate their opposition very quickly.”

Akutagawa frowned. “That’s kind of ruthless.”

“That’s life.” Bunta said, easily. “What can you do?” He shrugged and started to munch on an apple.

“Who else is in Rikkai?” asked Akutagawa.

“No one else. Just me.” Bunta said, in between munches. The crunch of the apple and sweetness of the juice made him smile. He would always enjoy the sheer pleasure of eating.

“But you don’t have a partner!” said Akutagawa in triumph. “Everyone else does, and you don’t. Why?”

Bunta paused mid-bite and pulled the apple away from his mouth. He should have known that Akutagawa was just biding his time. “I had a partner. His name was Jackal Kuwahura.”

“Had?” pressed Akutagawa.

“Had.” said Bunta firmly.

“But what happened to him? Had? It’s such a weird word. It’s past tense, which means you don’t have one now, so why?” asked Akutagawa, looking completely clueless.

“He’s dead, okay?!” shouted Bunta, dropping the apple in his anger. Akutagawa looked somewhat horrified. “Happy now?” asked Bunta, his voice tight as he turned around, leaving the apple on the road.

There was a silence and Bunta continued walking, not looking back at the boy with blonde hair.

“What was he like?” asked Akutagawa, his voice quiet. When Bunta whirled around furiously, Akutagawa merely raised an eyebrow. “Never had a partner, remember? I just want to know.”

Bunta stared at Akutagawa for a little and his smile looked genuinely curious and sorrowful. The kid wore his heart on his sleeve. At least it was helping Bunta now. “Jackal was the best partner I could have asked for.” started Bunta, with a sigh. “We met around three years ago, and I was the snottiest little brat you would ever come across. I thought that I was all that, when I could barely guard my own back. But he put up with me and my misplaced arrogance and when I could have got myself killed, he saved my skin.”

Akutagawa smiled sunnily and Bunta placed some acacia gum into his mouth. “I said that Kirihara and Yuuta were the best pair, but that’s only currently. Jackal and I were the best before he died. I attacked, he defended and he had the stamina and build of a dragon. We were tracking a young one for four days and while I was practically falling asleep by the time we caught up with it, Jackal wasn’t even fazed. He took it down without my help. He was better than me. Always was.”

Akutagawa looked almost hesitant then spoke up. “What happened? Why did he die?”

Bunta sighed and viciously chewed on the acacia, so hard, he thought he heard his tooth crack. “It was because I was an idiot. Jackal’s better than me, always has been. And Niou asked me to help him out with a dragon in his territory. We got a call from the other side of the country, and I trusted Jackal to be able to deal with it, so I sent him alone. The dragon killed him. I didn’t know it, until they said that some Seigaku prodigy, that Echizen Ryoma kid, had killed the dragon that killed Jackal.” Bunta felt the suppressed tears in his eyes and sniffed viciously. He wouldn’t cry. He hadn’t cried then and he wouldn’t cry now.

Akutagawa was staring at him in abject horror before he launched himself at Bunta and engulfed him in a hug. “That’s awful!”

Bunta froze slightly but as Akutagawa sniffled slightly, Bunta returned the hug. “He was the best partner I’ve ever had. You’re supposed to be able to trust your partner with your life. But Jackal depended on me to guard his and I didn’t do that. He was the best, but I’m the worst partner there. Lord Yukimura said that several people were lining up to be a Dragon Hunter and my new partner, but I didn’t want to endanger anyone else. That’s why I haven’t got a partner.” Bunta explained as he let go.

Akutagawa let go of him and frowned. “You aren’t awful, Marui. You just made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes.”

“A mistake that killed my best friend!” Bunta shouted, feeling angry.

“If he was your best friend, he wouldn’t blame you for it. He died protecting everybody. I would be happy with a death like that and Jackal sounds like the kind of person who would be happy with that too!” Akutagawa exclaimed, his face furrowed into a frown, which looked uncomfortable on the boy.

“But it should have been me!” yelled Bunta, gripping the front of Akutagawa’s tabard. “I should have died for him! He was so much better than I was!”

Akutagawa slapped Bunta hard. “Who are you to decide who lives or dies? That’s not my place or yours! That’s fate’s job and maybe God’s. Jackal died. You lived. Stop regretting it and start making something of the life that you’ve been given!”

Akutagawa started walking, leaving Bunta shocked and staring after him. Damn, that kid hit hard and right where it hurt. Literally and figuratively. Still, he had a point, even if Bunta wasn’t willing to accept it right away.

(X)

It was closer to the evening and Marui still hadn’t spoken up. Maybe Jirou had been too harsh. But he was moping even worse than Kei had when Kei’s parents died. At least Kei had been really young and had to rule an entire kingdom by himself and become Lord Atobe, of all things. Marui barely had to do anything, just live for his partner. And the self-hate was really quite much.

But…Jirou had hit him….maybe it hadn’t been the best decision ever. Jirou sighed and kicked the ground, moodily.

It was getting late and the sunning had already set. Usually, Jirou liked it best at night because the stars were out and he could sleep properly, but the heavy clouds above them blocked his view of the night sky. Jirou frowned. What a pain. 

“We’re almost there, Akutagawa.” said Marui, out of the blue, as he pointed towards the hut a few metres away. “That’s Akaya’s house. The capital is about five miles thataway,” he said, pointing down the road, “But it’s getting late and by the time we get there, none of the inns will let us in, for fear of trouble.”

“So are we going to camp out…?” asked Jirou, as he adjusted his cloak around him.

“Nah, Akaya’s bound to let us lodge for a night. Besides, it’s going to rain any moment. Just look at that sky!” said Marui, pointing upwards. His cheer seemed to have returned and Jirou grinned at him widely. Good; the older man was a nice person and being sad and unconfident didn’t suit his character. The natural arrogance that oozed off him was far more fun to be around.

“Why don’t you knock then, Marui?” asked Jirou. “Kirihara isn’t going to know that we’re here if you just stand there, genius.”

Marui threw him an insulted look. “My genius is applicable in every situation. Don’t you insult it! My genius is going to get us a place to stay for the night.” he said, sniffing primly. Jirou just grinned at him and Marui grinned as well, before knocking.

The door opened and a boy with brown hair and a large scar on his forehead peeked out. He took one look at Marui, sneered, then slammed the door in Marui’s face.

Marui stood and gaped at the door unbelievingly. It was only at Jirou’s soft giggles that he snapped out of it and started hammering on the door. “Yuuta! You jerk! You can’t just slam a door in my face! _Me!_ Let me in! I didn’t even say anything, Yuuta! What happened to basic courtesy!”

There was no answer and Marui scowled and started hammering on the door harder. “Akaya, don’t you let Yuuta lock out your _favourite_ teacher! Akaya! Don’t you love me? Didn’t I share my sweets with you? Didn’t I help you kill those two dragons in Higa territory? Let me in or I’ll break the door down, I swea—“

The door swung open, leaving Marui without a support to bang on. Marui collapsed onto the ground, his pink hair flopping everywhere, at the feet of a boy with curly-black hair and sharp emerald eyes. He wore a yellow tabard and black trousers, similarly decorated with stars, red in colour. “Bun, you’re such a fail.” he said, his voice loud and drawling.

“He just slammed the door in my face, what was I supposed to do?” demanded Marui, as he staggered up. “And don’t call me that, _Bakaya_!”

“I’ll call you whatever I like, _Bun_.” drawled Akaya, flicking Marui’s nose. “Didja see, I grew taller! You’re now the shortest dragon hunter in Rikkai, midget.”

“You little demon brat!” growled Bunta, his fist clenching up in anger. “I didn’t come here to be insulted!”

Seeing an opportunity that could potentially lead to them sleeping outside, Jirou stepped in and gripped Marui’s shoulder tightly. “No we didn’t. Neither did we come here to insult you either. Marui said that you would let us stay for the night, since it’s going to rain. We won’t bother you much, just one night! We have a mission for Lord Sanada and it’s going to be awesome, but if we sleep in the rain, it’ll ruin the mood and we’d fail the mission and screw up catching the dragon because I’d be all grumpy because I’d be wet and I wouldn’t have gotten any sleep which would be terrible because sleep is fun and I like sleep and sleep is generally pretty aweso—“

Jirou was cut off by a sharp elbow to his side by Marui. “So yeah.” finished Jirou, lamely, before smiling as innocently as he could.

“What the kid said, with less rambling.” said Marui, rolling his eyes slightly.

Kirihara looked between the two of them with a skeptical look before sighing and letting them in. “Whatever. Yuuta won’t mind too much, and it’ll be a good chance to catch up with Bun-bun. Lord Yanagi would kill me if I made you sleep outside anyway.”

“Thanks.” said Marui, grudgingly as they walked in. “But don’t call me that, Bakaya!”

The two teammates started bickering loudly and Jirou yawned widely. He was tired and his legs ached. He just wanted to nap, but he was hungry too. Ooh, that reminded him, food! Ryo said that whenever you were a guest at someone’s house, you offered to help them with stuff. And since food was the main agenda….

He walked over to the brown-haired boy with a scar, who was slicing away at some meat and beamed at him. “Do you need any help with that?” asked Jirou. Marui had something about Yuuta, right? And Kirihara had called this bloke Yuuta too.

“YOU!” shouted the kid, pointing the knife at him. Jirou blinked sleepily.

“Huh?” asked Jirou, sleepily. Was this guy that protective over his kitchen? “Did I say something wrong?”

“You’re Akutagawa! From Hyotei!” shouted the boy, looking furious.

“Yeah…” said Jirou, scratching his head. “What about it?”

“Fight me! I’ll beat you this time, for sure!” said Yuuta, jabbing at Jirou’s chest with the knife. Jirou stepped back slightly. He didn’t want to be stabbed with a knife by a complete stranger, not without some sweets in him and a good nap.

“No, thank you. I’m sleepy and hungry. Do you really not need any help?” Jirou said, suppressing a yawn.

Yuuta blinked slightly and deflated. “No, but you humiliated me at the tourney last year! I want to fight you again!” He regained his bluster and brandished the knife at Jirou again.

Jirou blinked. Oh yeah, he remembered that, Fifteen minutes or something. Jirou had been too sleepy then to really remember much of it. He was too sleepy now, as well. “If I fight you, will you feed me?” asked Jirou, yawning. “I’m really starving.”

Kirihara and Marui turned their heads towards them. ‘What’s wrong, Yuuta?” asked Kirihara, from where he was sipping tea.

“I’ll be back, Akaya.” said Yuuta, placing down the knife and reaching for his cape and a large sword on the side of the room. “Got a grudge match to finish.”

“Do it outside, I just finished fixing the roof.” said Kirihara, rolling his eyes. Then he started and his eyes gleamed as he turned towards Jirou quickly. “Wait, you’re Akutagawa Jirou, right?”

Jirou nodded wordlessly, as he shrugged off his cape and reached for his knives from his bag. He didn’t like fighting, but Kei had made him learn, if only to fight against people. Jirou couldn’t have hurt a dragon if he tried.

“Awesome.” Kirihara grinned wickedly, his sharp teeth showing as he leapt over the sofa, leaving the tea behind. “This, I have to see.

“It’s that fascinating?” asked Marui, as he sprung off the couch and they all went outside. Jirou set down his bag and rolled up his sleeves. His opponent was doing the same and was putting armour on his hands. Jirou didn’t bother with armour usually, unless he was going to a tourney, because he didn’t fight dragons. He talked to them.

“Of course. Yuuta’s amazing and he’s driven. And Jirou’s one of Hyotei’s best fighters.” said Kirihara, looking blithe. Marui just looked skeptical.

“Ready?” asked Yuuta, his brown eyes narrowing.

“Ready.” said Jirou, stifling a yawn as he looked up at the sky. It really was going to rain soon, wasn’t it?

He felt his balance go as Yuuta charged at him. Jirou flipped backwards onto his hands like Gakuto had taught him and flipped his way out of danger. He pulled out his dagger and threw it at Yuuta, cutting off the first of the bindings that held Yuuta’s armour on his arm.

Yuuta looked surprised but charged again. Jirou cartwheeled out of the way and tried to kick out Yuuta’s balance. Yuuta was fast! He didn’t remember any opponent other than Ryo being this fast! Jirou picked up the dagger that had buried itself in the grass and threw it again, as he attempted to sweep out Yuuta’s feet from under him.

He failed at knocking Yuuta off, but he managed to cut off the armour with his knife. Jirou sprinted to where the armour was, chucked it at Marui and grabbed his knife again. Now the armour was out of the way, Jirou could fight more evenly if he tried to go into close-range.

He grabbed his second dagger and side-stepped into Yuuta’s path. Yuuta brought his sword down and Jirou’s eyes widened. He knew he couldn’t get hit by that. He dodged sharply and landed badly on his ankle. Still, Jirou hit the base of his dagger into Yuuta’s foot sharply, as he rolled away from Yuuta and limped back up.

Yuuta swore loudly and gripped his foot. Jirou grinned slightly as he avoided putting weight on his twisted foot. Both were injured on their feet, they were still even. He had to tilt the balance in his own favour. Jirou threw his daggers close to the sides of Yuuta’s head to scare him then jumped and punched Yuuta down, in the same motion that he usually used to glomp Ryo to the floor. Yuuta hit the floor with an oomph and Jirou catapulted off, before landing on the floor.

“I win.” said Jirou, smiling. “That was fun, Yuuta~! I had a lot of fun, did you? We should do it again, but I’m really, really hungry so can we eat first?”

Yuuta gave him a blank and frankly shocked look. His mouth had dropped open and he was gaping like a goldfish.

“10 minutes.” said Kirihara, looking just as shocked. “You shaved five minutes off the previous time.”

Jirou yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Well, I’m not as sleepy now. But I am hungry, so can we _please_ eat?”

Yuuta nodded speechlessly. “Food’s almost done. Just need to add onions to the stew.” he said, his voice still quite shocked.

“I’ll help.” said Jirou. But Marui tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

“Akutagawa,” he said, looking quite pensive. “When we’ve finished the job for Lord Sanada, I would rather like to have a spar with you.”

Jirou tilted his head sideways. Interesting. He hadn’t thought that Marui was interested in fighting, since his methods of dragon taming were so much more passive than the rest of Rikkai. “Alright. But you’ve gotta leave your flute behind, cause otherwise you’d win too easily.” he said, pouting as they entered the hut of Yuuta and Kirihara.

Marui laughed. “But of course. What’s the fun if I bring my flute into the match? Isn’t the fact that you could lose more thrilling than a guaranteed victory?” he asked, as Jirou pulled his cape around him again.

“Food.” called Kirihara and Jirou’s eyes lit up. He poured himself soup and dipped some bread in it, delighting at the warmth that filled him from head to toe. Once he finished, Jirou curled up on the sofa and shut his eyes lazily. He felt tired, but he couldn’t find it within himself to sleep, so he just pretended to be asleep, so that he didn’t interrupt Marui’s catch-up time with his friends.

“That guy’s asleep already…” muttered Kirihara’s voice.

Jirou heard Marui’s low laugh. “Akutagawa could sleep through anything, I reckon. He was sleepwalking our first day trekking, saying that walking didn’t require conscious thought.”

“He’s a genius in everything, huh, Marui?” asked Yuuta’s voice.

Marui snorted. “Probably. Though I think if anyone deserves the genius title, it’s me.” he said, and he sounded arrogant. Jirou disguised his laughter in a snore and tossed around to face the couch.

“Why’d you bring him with you anyway, Bun?” asked Kirihara, his voice curious. “I thought you said that you weren’t going to have another partner since Jackal died? Do you like him or something?”

There was a spluttered noise from Marui and Jirou turned around and opened his eyes to peek at Marui’s face. It was red and he was shoving Kirihara to the floor.

“Yeah Marui. He’s kinda cute and small. But I didn’t think he was your type. If cute and small was your type, you’d have been all over Urayama Shiita.” said Yuuta, smirking lightly from where he was sitting opposite Jirou.

“Yuuta!” protested Marui, looking mortified. “How am I supposed to strangle two people at once?”

“You aren’t denying anything though, Bun-bun.” said Kirihara, his voice sly and wicked. “You so like him.

“Don’t call me that! And I don’t like him in that way. I’m just making sure that he doesn’t get lost.” said Marui, huffing and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Suuuuuure.” drawled Kirihara, his lips curved up in a triumphant smirk. Marui viciously noogied him, and they grunted as they tried to lose/keep the grip they had on each other.

“You’re attracted to him, even if you don’t realize it yet.” said Yuuta, with a smirk. “You were staring at him the whole way through dinner. Take it from an expert, that’s attraction. Akaya and I dodged around each other like that for days.”

“I’m…I can’t be! I was firmly in love with Sakuno from Seigaku.” said Marui, firmly.

“More like you were in love with her cooking.” said Kirihara slyly, leading to another clobber over the head.

“You like Akutagawa.” said Yuuta, firmly.

“Fine, I do!” he exploded, his face still red. “But, only a little bit! Just a stupid affection. He’s like a cute puppy.”

“A puppy that you’re in luuurve with.” teased Kirihara, Marui started tickling him furiously as he tackled Kirihara to the floor. They started grappling and pulling hair in between insults and Jirou wondered whether he should pretend to wake up and step in. Yuuta’s eyes turned from their fighting with a fond shake of the head to Jirou.

Jirou snapped his eyes shut quickly and turned back around to the couch slowly. Had Yuuta caught the fact that he was awake?

But, that wasn’t the main thought on Jirou’s mind. Marui liked him. Marui thought he was…okay, he thought that Jirou was cute, which wasn’t the best description that a 19 year old boy could get, but still! Marui liked him more than normal! He felt himself blush slightly. He wasn’t sure whether he liked Marui back. Sure, he thought the older man was awesome and funny, but love? He wasn’t sure.

He had time though! One whole day. That was usually all that Jirou needed to make a decision. Jirou relaxed his limbs slightly and tried to go to sleep properly, letting out a breath quietly. He started drifting almost immediately….

(X)

“Here it is. The big city.” said Bunta, cracking the acacia gum in two as they passed in through the gates. Rikkai was bustling with people and everybody was wearing something yellow, as was the custom here.

“Amazing!” cried Jirou as he bounced around looking at everything and anything, like a cute hyperactive rabbit. Bunta laughed just a little, then flushed slightly. Damnit, these past three days, he’d been going through a rollercoaster of emotions, that he hadn’t even done before. How could one person over two days, do that? One hyperactive yet narcoleptic bunny of a boy had completely made mush of his emotions.

“Come on, Sanada’s house is this way.” said Bunta, before a horn blew loudly and obnoxiously. Bunta pulled Jirou back with a firm grip on his cape and looked to see who was coming through the streets.

“Lord Sanada!” he exclaimed, upon seeing the man riding a horse with his guard behind him.

Sanada looked down and scowled as he pulled his horse to a stop. “You’re late Marui. I was about to go deal with it myself.”

Bunta rolled his eyes. “Gimme a _break_ , Sanada, I was in Yagyuu’s land, dealing with Niou’s problem. It ain’t easy to travel cross country in two days.” he said, cracking the gum in the back of his mouth with an impatient sigh.

“You’re Lord Sanada?” asked Jirou, looking curious. “I have a letter for you and for Lord Yukimura.” he said, as he blinked back a yawn. “’s from Lord Atobe.” he said, as he rummaged in his bag. A large, gold-embossed scroll was pulled out of Jirou’s bag with little to no care about it getting crinkled. Bunta just gaped a little. Damn. That paper was probably worth more than what Sanada paid him in a year.

Sanada treated it with the same nonchalance…but Sanada was a lord. What the hell? Was everyone in Hyotei rich as heck? Sanada scanned it and sneered. “Tanishi, Kobaya, dismount.” he said, his voice gruff. Two of his riding men slipped off their horses and lead them forward for Bunta and Jirou. “Go. If you’re not back by tomorrow evening, I’ll consider you two dead and I’ll ride out myself.” said Sanada. He turned his horse around with sharp movements and headed back to the castle.

The crowd around them was staring. “Guess we’d better hurry Akutagawa.” said Bunta uncomfortably, quickly mounting. He wasn’t unfamiliar with horses, but he’d never felt comfortable upon them…and apparently, Jirou was. Of course.

“Akutagawa, you can’t fall asleep on these horses. You need to steer.” scolded Bunta, as he pulled at his reins and warmed up the horse. He poked Jirou on the shoulder and then whapped him around the head when he didn’t respond.

To his surprise, Jirou just whispered in the horse’s ear and the horse started running all by itself. Bunta rolled his eyes and urged his horse into a canter with his heels. He could take out his flute and play…but then he would lose his delicate balance on the horse. He wasn’t risking that just to show off like Jirou.

…Even if it did pain him to not show off his genius skills in front of a captive audience.

They rode out of Rikkai’s capital in utter silence until they saw amongst the green rolling hills a plume of smoke. It was huge and utterly impossible to ignore now that the city’s buildings were out of the way. Even Jirou had woken up completely at the sight of it.

“Marui,” he said, his voice serious from where he was flattened against the horse’s back, face smooshed up against the mane, which made him look absolutely adorable. “That much smoke means that there’s more than one dragon.”

Bunta pursed his lips, then nodded. That wasn’t good in the slightest. The horses were _fast_ and the green countryside passed them by quickly, until patches of scorched earth started to appear around them. The sure sign of a dragon rampage.

“Akutagawa…” he warned as Jirou finally took control of his horse and steered away from the road.

“This way, Marui.” he said, a bright smile on his face, that made Bunta’s heart melt slightly. Did Jirou even realize what he was doing to him?

Suddenly, the horses started panicking and Bunta’s horse bucked him off. Bunta fell onto the ground with an oomph, and contrary to popular belief, he didn’t pout! Really, he hadn’t! “Looks like this is the end of the road, Marui.” said Jirou, a soft smile on his face as he petted the horse, whispered something else to it and the two horses trotted away. “The dragons are close by.” He paused and turned around. “Ne, Marui?” he asked, eyes wide and curious, “Will you let me go first with the dragons? I think since there are a lot of them, my methods will be much better, since killing a lot of dragons is bad.”

Bunta almost made the comparison to Jackal, who’d always been the person who went first…but then he realized, that Jirou wasn’t Jackal. Because Jackal would have told him to get out of the way since it was too dangerous. Jackal would have taken on the burden himself and left Bunta on the side. Jirou…it looked like the thought of leaving Bunta out of the whole situation hadn’t even occurred to him. And…it was nice, not feeling like someone was protecting him.

“Pleeeeaaaaaassse?” asked Jirou getting up in Bunta’s face, eyes wide as he gripped Bunta’s shoulders. Bunta _wasn’t_ attracted to Jirou; really he wasn’t! But he couldn’t help but think, that if he had been attracted to Jirou, now would have been the perfect time to kiss him.

Instead, he patted Jirou’s shoulder and smiled. “Yeah, sounds like a plan, kiddo.”

Jirou beamed and strode ahead of the, whistling slightly. Bunta just shook his head and followed him. He stopped sharply as they walked into a clearing where four dragons seemed to be waiting for something. Four. Four dragons in one place! Bunta froze and stared in sheer shock and horror. But Jirou didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.

“Hiii!” he called cheerily. “My name’s Akutagawa Jirou~! I’m from Hyotei and I’m a vassal of Lord Atobe~! And this is Marui Bunta, a vassal of Yukimura’s from Rikkai. What about all of you?”

The dragons all turned around and focused their eyes upon Jirou, identical glares in their faces. Bunta stood his ground like Jirou, but wanted nothing more than to whip his flute out and wish death upon them. It strained against his instincts to stand still and let the dragons remain standing.

Finally, the smallest one, in emerald green spoke up. “I’m Shouta…” it murmured. “I owe fealty to Lassiter.”

Bunta was so confused. How was he, Marui Bunta, understanding this? Dragons didn’t speak the same language as humans! And Bunta didn’t know the language of dragons. They never taught it to humans. He tossed a small look to Jirou who seemed in a different level of concentration and didn’t even seem deterred by the looks he was being given by everyone in the clearing.

The red dragon snorted and a small flame came from his nose. “Shut up, Shouta. Don’t talk to him. We have heard of you, Akutagawa Jirou. You pretend to be a friend of the dragons, then you turn around and betray us to your human masters, leave us hopeless and bereft of our chance to take revenge for the wrongs done upon us. We will not have it!”

Jirou looked completely confused. “I ask dragons to kindly stop killing humans and destroying land that isn’t theirs to destroy. What’s wrong with that, Sir Red Dragon?” he asked, and Bunta swore that he really did sound and look like a five year old.

…But maybe that was the trick. Usually, dragons didn’t attack children. And Jirou looked like the epitome of a child now. How…manipulative. Bunta wasn’t sure whether it was Atobe who was the manipulative one here or whether Jirou himself was this smart and cultivated his childish demeanour to fool everybody. Including Bunta.

“You steal our freedom to do as we please.” said the blue dragon, tossing it’s head to the side, it’s scales glinting in the light.

Jirou pouted and his eyes widened marginally. “But we want to be safe too. It’s why we have sections for both races. And humans don’t go to dragon areas and vice versa. If you weren’t happy with the arrangement, surely you could have just come and talked to Sir Oshitari? Instead of ruining all of these lovely towns?”

“We have heard of Oshitari Silvertongue, who helps dragons willingly sell away their freedom to the humans. We know him and his quiet helper as well.” said the red dragon, and this time, the other dragons who’d been quiet, growled.

“We will not join our compatriots in bondage.” said the blue dragon, looking annoyed. However, the smaller green dragon seemed willing to listen and the grey dragon was still silent. Bunta took that as a good sign.

“I don’t want dragons to go into slavery.” said Jirou, his eyes wide and almost brimming with tears. “Some of my friends are dragons. I like them a lot! And slavery is awful. I just want to help create peace between my own race and the race that I love.” he said, his voice earnest and wonderfully innocent.

But the red dragon was growling now, and looked positively incensed. “At what price will you have your so-called peace?” he asked. “Because the space and land of the dragons reduces daily. What was once ours disappears and the humans refuse to retreat or give back what was ours!” he spat, and smoke billowed from the red dragon’s nostrils. 

Jirou frowned. “Where is the land decreasing, Sir Red Dragon? It is not supposed to decrease. No land has been officially reclaimed by Kei–Lord Atobe or by Lord Yukimura. If anyone’s doing so, they’re being illegal and plain out jerks.”

The grey dragon, which had been quiet until then, tilted its head upwards and looked down its nose at them. “In your own homeland of Hyotei, human child. The westlands are ravaged and ruined. We have no place to feed. The mountains of Midoriyama shrink every day. We are no longer welcome on Rudolph Island. Our refuges are shrinking, little one. And we want them back.”

“Then talk to someone who can do something about it!” yelled Bunta, unable to keep quiet. Everybody in the clearing tuned to look at him, including Jirou, who looked distressed. “Why blame those who are innocent in every matter? Those humans whose lands you destroyed and lives you took, they had nothing to do with this. This is a matter between the lords of those lands. And those lands are far from Rikkai. In Rikkai, we respect dragons.”

“Yet you slaughter us.” countered the red dragon.

“When you overstep your boundaries.” said Marui as he felt his anger rising up, hot and furious.

“Shut up Marui.” said Jirou, and his voice was trembling. Bunta shot Jirou a look of disbelief, which Jirou didn’t return, as he stared the dragons down, looking vulnerable and nervous. “There shouldn’t be boundaries for either race. That I know. But both humans and dragons are filled with greed and pride and we cannot live together. These boundaries must rub on you. But they have been agreed by your Dragon Lords and our lords.” he said. “All that I ask is that you keep to them. Please.”

The green dragon nodded. “My lord Lassiter has spoken with Silvertongue before. He is not so sly as he believes himself to be. I will honour the agreement between dragons and humans. Good day, Akutagawa.” he said, before he spread his wings and flew.

Jirou’s shoulder slumped slightly in relief. But the grey, blue and red dragons remained. “Will you follow him?” he asked, his eyes wide and hopeful and he laced his hands together and brought them up, as if in prayer.

“I will not bow!” called the red dragon.

“If you will make an oath, little one, that you will give land in Hyotei to me and my people, I will leave.” said the grey dragon, as a light puff of smoke left its nose.

“What would you wish me to swear upon, Sir Grey Dragon?” asked Jirou, eyes strong.

“Swear on your blood that you will see it done in a fortnight, and I will be satisfied.” said the grey dragon.

“I swear upon my blood to appeal to Lord Atobe to return the lands of Sir Grey Dragon to him within a fortnight.” said Jirou, with next to no hesitance. Bunta frowned slightly, surely even Jirou would take slightly more caution in swearing oaths to magical creatures? Dragons weren’t as tricky as sphinxes or chimaeras, but still! They had the most ability to cause wanton destruction.

The grey dragon slowly nodded before he too spread his wings and left. This time, both he and Jirou sighed in unison. One less to worry about. “I will not leave these lands. We have claimed them as our own.” said the red dragon, haughtily.

“Neither will I.” said the blue dragon and swept his tail around toward Bunta. Bunta swore and jumped backwards out of the way and pulled his flute out of his bag. He was about to play the song for death…when he realized that he hadn’t told Jirou to bring earplugs. Anything alive in the area was affected. That would kill Jirou which was _not okay_. He’d already killed one partner, he didn’t need to kill the temporary one who wasn’t even part of Rikkai.

Instead, he decided to play the song of sleep. Jirou was sleepy enough, it wouldn’t matter. The problem wasn’t that he didn’t remember it or even that he was bad at the song of sleep. It was that the song of sleep was much, much longer than most of the other songs. And the songs were ineffective when stopped halfway. “Cover my back Akutagawa!” he yelled as he started to play.

He didn’t shut his eyes like he usually did, instead kept them wide open as he focused on wanting the dragons to sleep. It wasn’t working. Their tails were sweeping towards him and the red dragon had already gone into flight and was preparing to swoop him. Bunta stumbled backwards as fast as he could without losing his balance or his hold upon the tune.

Jirou had already run forward and was shouting at them in some language that Bunta didn’t understand. Perhaps the one that he’d been speaking before that Bunta had been able to miraculously speak and understand?

Bunta almost growled in frustration, but didn’t since it would ruin the song. But come on? _Shouting_ at them? He should have slashed and attacked. That’s what Jackal would have done….but Jackal was dead and Jirou was still here.

Bunta put his heart into the song. He really, really wanted them to sleep. He really, really, wanted them to sleep so they wouldn’t hurt Jirou, or kill Jirou who was being an idiot, and just talking instead of acting.

…the boy had him under some sort of spell. He was worrying more about Jirou than himself!? Even with Jackal, Bunta had come first on priorities!

Was it is his imagination, or was the blue dragon who was swooping his tail everywhere and taking out trees with it, slowing down? Bunta kept a close eye on the dragon as he played. He might have imagined the droop to the eyelids, but what was unmistakable was the yawn. The song was working!

Then Bunta stared in utter horror as the red dragon yawned and sent a spurt of red fire right at him. Suddenly, Jirou ran out in front of him and caught the burst of flame right in his front. Bunta almost dropped his flute and felt his eyes widen in sheer terror. He wanted nothing more than to stop playing and run to check on Jirou, but he had to see this through! He beat his foot frantically on the ground to check his pace and increased the tempo of the song, so he get through it faster.

Jirou wouldn’t be able to help him keep them away now, so he kept his eyes trained upon the dragons, eyes blazing. He would not get injured by these dragons. Maybe Jirou was right and maybe they did have families and care. The grey dragon had spoken of his people and the green one, Shouta, had spoken about a Lord. Maybe they were like humans then, rather than beasts.

But even humans committed wrongs. Even humans had to be killed for crimes committed. Bunta understood a little more now. As a Dragon Hunter, he wasn’t killing every dragon out there, because they were nuisances. He was killing the ones that didn’t follow the rules, just like Sanada did for the miscreants of their kingdom. It had not been a proper dragon that had killed Jackal. It had been an evil one.

These dragons were the same and so, needed to be put down. It all made sense now. They seemed to be advancing on him. fire spurting in every direction. But by some miracle, or sheer luck, none of the shots of fire actually hit him or Jirou. Bunta grinned slightly as the last stanza of the song of sleep came and finally knocked out the red dragon and the blue dragon.

Without remorse, Bunta pulled out his sharpest knife and stabbed upwards into both of their hearts, letting the red blood drip onto his clothes. These were the first actual dragons he’d killed since Jackal’s death, and it was so satisfying. But…it wouldn’t become a habit. Not with what else had happened to ensure these deaths.

Once he was sure that they were dead, Bunta ran as fast as he could, to where Jirou had been flung back. Jirou’s legs were on fire and Bunta beat at them with his cape, ignoring the blood on his hands and the dead dragons behind him. Jirou’s agoni,sed crying face was his whole world then. “Come on Jirou!” he yelled as the flame finally died to reveal a huge burn running down the side of Jirou’s left leg. “Don’t cry! What kind of boy cries, huh?”

Jirou smiled up at him weakly, tears leaking from his eyes. “It hurts, Marui. I hurt.”

“I know, Jirou.” he said, and he realized that he’d stopped thinking of the boy as Akutagawa a long time ago, and now he’d stop calling him that too. “Just don’t cry, huh? Because you’ll start making me cry.” said Bunta, as he started pouring bits of water onto Jirou’s wounds.

Jirou started sobbing and gripping Bunta’s arms at that, making little whimpering sounds as he did so.

Bunta found himself making little soothing comforting noises and stroking Jirou’s arm comfortingly as he dabbed at the red and sore flesh with the edge of his cape. “It’s okay, it’s okay, you’re going to be just fine…” he kept murmuring.

“C-c-can’t you sing it well?” asked Jirou, as the tears continued to flow down his cheeks. “Like with your flute?”

Bunta shook his head, feeling his own eyes water slightly. “I can’t.” he said, gently, “It’s never worked before and I don’t want to hurt you even more, Jirou.” There was a song of healing, but it was beyond him and since he’d never been good at it, he’d never bothered to learn the last few stanzas.

He pulled off his entire cape from his shoulders and started tearing strips of it to bind around the burnt leg. “You’re calling me Jirou now.” said Jirou, smiling weakly as Bunta slowly applied the cloth around Jirou’s leg.

“So I am.” he said, distractedly. “You can call me Bunta too. You deserve it. You protected me from that flame.”

“My pleasure.” said Jirou, who was looking very sleepy now. He yawned and Bunta swore.

“Hey Jirou, please don’t sleep on me. I need you to focus on me and me alone. You can’t fall asleep now. So do whatever to make sure it won’t happen.” said Bunta, gripping Jirou’s shoulders gently and shaking them.

“Okay. ‘m gonna talk now, Mar—Bunta.” mumbled Jirou. “I heard you and Kir’hara lass night. You like me, don’t you?” he asked, his out of focus eyes meeting Bunta’s.

Bunta nodded. “Sure I do. Especially since you saved my life.”

“Not like that. You think I’m cute.” said Jirou, mumbling slightly louder, with something of a smirk on his face. As much of a smirk that Jirou could manage anyway.

Bunta blushed and didn’t reply as he kept wrapping, pulling tighter to keep the compression there.

“Well, I like you too. Took me a while to decide, but I do. You’re awesome and you can save me and you’re nice. Your smile’s real nice too.” said Jirou, as he yawned again.

Bunta smiled softly. “It’s only been three days. You can’t decide that you like me.”

“We got time, ‘vn’t we?” asked Jirou, looking up at him imploringly. “I’m your partner now, right?”

Bunta blinked. Then he shook his head. “No. No you can’t be. You’ve already got injured. What if next time’s it’s death?”

Jirou smiled and placed a hand on Bunta’s face. “Then you can save me again.” he said, a radiant smile on his face. “And even if you can’t, I don’t care ‘bout dying if it’s with you, Bunta. You’re awesome.”

Bunta bit his lip. “Jirou, you don’t know what you’re saying.” he said, his voice tight.

“Don’t you like me?” asked Jirou, frowning as Bunta pulled tightly on the last bandage around Jirou’s leg. “Aren’t I good enough?”

“I like you. I like you a lot. That’s why you can’t be my partner for this.” said Bunta, pulling the stern face that meant he was final.

Jirou seemed to not realize that the face was his stern face, because instead, he lifted his hand up and pulled Bunta down for a soft, chaste kiss. Jirou’s hair brushed against his face, which tickled annoyingly, but when Jirou pressed a kiss to Bunta’s nose and Bunta could feel Jirou’s hot breath against his face, he kissed Jirou properly.

It wasn’t his first kiss, but it was certainly the slowest and sweetest he’d ever taken it. Even if Bunta was dripping blood and Jirou was still crying a little from the pain in his leg. Their tongues collided in a struggle for power that neither of them would win and Bunta tangled his fingers in Jirou’s curly hair while Jirou made mewling noises into his mouth.

Bunta pulled away from Jirou, panting slightly. Jirou’s eyes were centred firmly on his, with a look of awe and wonder. Bunta felt his face relax into a smile. “Ask me about being my partner again when you can talk without crying, and I’ll think about it.”

Jirou grinned vaguely. “That means yes.” he said, and he tapped Bunta’s nose lightly as his eyes drooped.

Bunta cursed slightly as Jirou passed into unconsciousness. He pulled the boy up and slung Jirou’s arm around his shoulder. It was a long walk back to the main town. But he’d do it quickly for Jirou. Anything for Jirou. 

(X)

Jirou woke up in a white room with a white arched ceiling above him. He looked around and Marui was there to greet him, looking very relieved. “You’re alive, Jirou!” he said, smiling. “The nurses thought your humours had cursed the burn wound!”

“I’m your partner, right?” he asked, again, the tiny details about other things not really mattering in the face of Marui’s dazzling smile.

Marui looked taken aback. “Jirou…”

“I’m not crying and I’m not sleepy.” said Jirou, making sure to bite back his yawn. “So am I your partner or not?” He had to be sure that Marui wanted him around. Was Jirou just cute to him or did he actually appreciate Jirou?

Marui paused then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re my partner.”

Jirou smiled. That was all he needed to know.

**OWARI**


End file.
